NJ Home Inspection by a Garden State ASHI Member in New Jersey

Electrical Safety

Use of Portable Generators
The use of a portable generator can be very convenient and very hazardous.  Safety first, there is no point in having the only home in the neighborhood with lights if you are laying on the floor dead or the house that burns down because the fire department was on the other side of town putting out another fire.

Never keep a running generator in your home or garage, carbon monoxide is a toxic by product of combustion.

Never turn off a few circuit breakers and back feed an electrical panel.  The panel can blow up in your face or you can easily kill a utility worker.  

Only plug in 80% of so of the load the generator is designed to keep running, over loading the generator can cause it to fail, over heat or in a worst case catch fire. 

If you are using extension cords use heavy duty ones.  If your extension cord is more than 50 feet or so use one size larger wire than you normally do to avoid voltage drops.

Never fill a hot generator, you and the person helping you can find the heat of the generator ignites the gasoline or a spark ignites the vapors. 

Remember as much as it may be your goal to get your lights on and TV running it will do you little good if you die trying.

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